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Sean O'Malley lost his bantamweight title to Merab Dvalishvili via unanimous decision at UFC 306 (Riyadh Season Noche UFC) inside Las Vegas' Sphere this past weekend. After the one-sided defeat, 'Suga' has been called out by three elite bantamweights in Petr Yan, Cory Sandhagen, and Henry Cejudo.
Over the past few years, O'Malley has been one of the biggest stars in the UFC and MMA overall. In the wake of his title loss, today we look at which of the aforementioned three opponents the popular American combatant should face next.
#3. Sean O'Malley vs. Petr Yan 2
Petr Yan (17-5 MMA) is 2-3 in his past five octagon appearances. The ex-UFC bantamweight champion and ex-interim UFC bantamweight champion recently snapped a three-fight losing streak by defeating Song Yadong via unanimous decision in March.
After UFC 306, Yan tweeted about wanting to rematch Dvalishvili someday. 'No Mercy' jibed that he never regarded Sean O'Malley as the real champion. Claiming that he was robbed on the scorecards in their fight, he called for a rematch against O'Malley.
Ranking-wise, the O'Malley-Yan rematch makes the most sense. Yan is currently ranked No. 3 in the division, while Sandhagen stands at No. 4, and Cejudo is at No. 6.
#2. Sean O'Malley vs. Cory Sandhagen
Cory Sandhagen is 3-2 in his last five fights. He competed for the interim bantamweight title in Oct. 2021 but was beaten by Yan. 'The Sandman' is coming off a one-sided unanimous decision loss against the undefeated Umar Nurmagomedov last month.
A potential O'Malley-Sandhagen fight has long been a much-discussed hypothetical bantamweight matchup. 'The Sandman' clashing with 'Suga' would be a striking fan's dream come true. Sandhagen alluded to the bout in an Instagram post after UFC 306. Jesting about Dvalishvili kissing O'Malley during their fight, 'The Sandman' wrote:
"Watching Merab win the title realizing you get Sandman vs Suga because of it. Congrats, Merab. You earned it, man. O'Malley, time to give the people what they want. I don't promise to not kiss you"
#1. Sean O'Malley vs. Henry Cejudo
From a storyline perspective, facing a legendary MMA fighter and longtime rival like Henry Cejudo would make the most sense for O'Malley. 'Triple C' is a former UFC flyweight and bantamweight champion. The Olympic gold medalist put forth a series of tweets lambasting O'Malley and challenging him to a fight next.
Cejudo has been mulling a return to flyweight lately, aiming to reclaim the 125-pound title and dominate that division. O'Malley's unlikely to cut to flyweight, so their long-awaited grudge match must materialize while Cejudo's still at bantamweight.
'Triple C' is 3-2 in his past five fights and hasn't won since ending his three-year MMA retirement last year. Cejudo is coming off a unanimous decision defeat against Merab Dvalishvili in February of this year.
Cejudo would get the chance for one last hurrah at bantamweight by beating O'Malley. On the other side, 'Suga' could regain momentum by defeating Cejudo in the veteran's 135-pound farewell.
Furthermore, Yan is 31, Sandhagen is 32, and Cejudo is 37. The 29-year-old Sean O'Malley should face the biggest name among the trio, which is Cejudo, who's also the oldest and might have trouble against 'Suga's' youthful energy. Not to mention, it'd be a highly entertaining pairing that would hype their potential fight well.
